Africa
Assange hails WikiLeaks role in Tunisia revolt
A Tunisian demonstrator holds a placard reading "Game Over" during a rally in front of the country's Interior ministry in Tunis on January 14, 2011, to demand President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali's resignation. Photo/FILE
Posted Sunday, February 13 2011 at 18:47
SYDNEY, Sunday
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on Sunday said his site was “significantly influential” in the fall of Tunisian leader Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, an event he said “no doubt” sparked a Middle East revolt.
Mr Assange, 39, said cables leaked on his whistleblowing site questioning US support for Ben Ali gave citizens the confidence to rise up and influenced the decisions of surrounding nations on whether to intervene.
“It does seem to be the case that material we published through a Lebanese newspaper, Al Akhbar, was significantly influential to what happened in Tunisia,” Mr Assange told the SBS programme Dateline.
“And then there’s no doubt that Tunisia was the example for Egypt and Yemen and Jordan, and all the protests that have happened there,” he added.
Australian-born Assange, currently awaiting a London court’s decision on whether he should be extradited to Sweden to face sex assault claims, said the tide of popular discontent with autocratic regimes was “extremely gratifying”.
Meanwhile, Western spies are conspiring to ignite an uprising in Iran by recruiting a candidate willing to set himself on fire in an anti-regime protest, the Islamic republic’s volunteer militia warned on Sunday.
Basij commander Mohammad Reza said: “Western intelligence agencies are searching for a mentally challenged person who can set himself on fire in Tehran to trigger developments like those in Egypt and Tunisia.”
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